Machine knitting

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to machine knitting of fabric, especially warp-knitting of tubular fabric. It provides a method of continuously forming seamless tubular fabric on a Raschel or similar flat-bed machine having a pair of parallel needle bars, particularly seamless tubular fabric having a different number of tubular portions for a given bed width at one part of the run than at another part. Continuity of knitting action and stitch is maintained throughout, including during conversion between different numbers and widths of different tubular portions.

United States Patent 1191 Titone 45] Apr. 24, 1973 MACHINE KNITTING [75] Inventor: Seymour C. Titone, Birchrunville,

[73] Assignee: Titone Research & Development Corporation, Burlington, NJ.

[22] Filed: Dec. 29, 1967 [21] Appl. No.: 694,655

[52] US. Cl ..66/87, 66/177 1,069,881 5/1967 Great Britain ..66/87 1,072,715 6/1967 Great Britain ..66/178 291,471 4/1916 Germany ..66/87 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Darlington, K. D. Seamless Warp Knit Stockings and Tights The Hosiery Trade Journal Vol. 74, No. 879 Mar. 67, pp. 74 to 77.

Lancashire, J. B., Warp Knit Stockings, The Knitter Vol. 31, No.7, July 67 PP. 32, 54, 55.

Publication, The Hosiery Trade Journal Raschel Seamless Tights, Vol. 74, No. 888, Dec. 67, pp. 116 & 117.

Primary ExaminerRonald Feldbaum Att0rneyMcC1ure, Weiser & Millman [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [571 ABSTCT 3,429,147 2/1969 Perrier ..66/178 X tqmachme kmFtmg of f 459,866 9 1891 Clewley ..66 170 especany warpkmmng of tubular It Provldes a 606,719 7/1898 1-1111 ..66 170 method of Continuously forming Seamless tubular 1,139,342 5/1915 1 7 fabric on a Raschel or similar flat-bed machine having 1,078,914 11/1913 Gabel.... .,..66/87 a pair of parallel needle bars, particularly seamless tul,855,033 4/1932 S iers ....66/87 bular fabric having a different number of tubular por- 2,990,703 7/1961 BlalOStOk ..66/87 {ions for a given bed at one part of the run than at another part. Continuity of knitting action and FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS stitch is maintained throughout, including during con- 564,540 1 1924 France ..66/87 version between different numbers and widths of dif- 1,036,246 7/1966 Great Britain.... .....66/178 ferent tubular portions. 1,059,576 2/1967 Great Britain ..66/178 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures i. Q PAN TY c1 25 k a 1n h 2 en X z L E (I m z E 2 z PATENTEBAPR24|975 SHEET 2 m4 MWl-WTOA.

SEYMOUR C. TITON E PATENTED APR 2-4 1915 SHEET 3 [IF 4 mm m0 31: 3 5 a Rfimn :QmREm .N ma m w m. mm mm in mm u; 2 mm mm 3 mm uh m: um

Qui 4770mm);

MACHINE KNITTING It has been conventional to make garments covering, for example, a part of the legs and an adjacent part of the trunk by separate forming of the leg parts and a trunk part, which may be merely a crotch panel, and sewing the respective parts together. The parts were preferably knitted rather than woven because a better fit could be provided more simply because of superior elasticity available in knit construction and also because seamless tubular fabric can be formed readily by knitting. Although the sewn seam at the conjunction of the respective parts remained undesirable, both for esthetic and economic reasons, a suitable method of providing such a garment in continuous one-piece form remained to be achieved.

A primary object of the present invention is seamless warp-knitting of tubular fabric having a transition from one to more than one tubular portions of substantially the same total width.

Another object is provision of a preferred method for knitting such fabric on a Raschel machine.

A further object is modification of yarn guide actuation in flat-bed knitting to provide continuity of knitting action despite interchange of patterns for such yarn guide movement.

Other objects of this invention, together with means and methods for attaining the various objects, will be apparent from the following description.

FIG. 1 is a view of panty-hose, shown in the flat, constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a largely schematic end elevation of the relative arrangement of yarn guide bars and needlebeds for forming the product of FIG. I on a Raschel machine;

FIG. 3 is a threading diagram for the aforementioned product on the aforementioned or equivalent machine;

FIG. 4 is a stitch diagram for the front panel of the aforementioned product;

FIG. 5 is a stitch diagram for the back panel of the aforementioned product;

FIG. 6 is a largely schematic plan view of an arrangement of pattern chains and yarn guide bars and re-lated portions of a Raschel machine modified in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic side elevation corresponding to the plane of FIG. 7.

In general, the objects of the invention are accomplished, in Raschel knitting of seamless tubular fabric, wherein the edges of like panels being knitted on the respective beds of a two needle bar machine are knitted together concurrently, by knitting a plurality of partialwidth tubes side by side and knitting a single full-width tube the combined width of the plurality of partialwidth tubes and joined thereto end to end while maintaining continuity of knitting action and stitch throughout.

This may be accomplished, for example, by utilizing a plurality of half-gauge threaded front guide bars knitting on the'front bed, utilizing a plurality of halfgauge threaded rear guide bars knitting on the back bed, utilizing for each side edge of the fabric on the respective beds an intermediate guide bar threaded only at that edge location and knitting principally on one bed only but intermittently crossing over to knit at least one stitch on the other bed and thereby seamlessly connecting the panels of fabric on the respective beds,

and at the conversion from bifurcated to unitary construction employing each intermediate guide bar so utilized for connecting the front and back panels at the respective adjacent edges of the bifurcated portions during knitting of the bifurcated portions to cross over and knit a corresponding number of stitches and at correspondingly intermediate periods on an adjacent needle in the same bed but used in formation of the opposite bifurcated portion during knitting of the bi-furcated portions and thereby forming a unitary portion of seamless tubular fabric joined to the bifurcated portrons.

FIG. 1 shows, in the flat, such a fabric product useful as panty-hose, having a diamond-shaped openwork or net construction. As indicated hereinafter by way of example, each leg of the diamond pattern may conveniently comprise four stitches, with a fifth stitch at each conjunction of the legs.

FIG. 2 shows, in end elevation (largely schematically), a preferred arrangement of yarn guide bars 1 to 12, inclusive, relative to one another and pair of needlebeds F (front) and B (back). This view illustrates that, as preferred for best results, guide bars 3, 4, and 5 are nested, as are guide bars 8, 9, and 10. A six-bar swing is used, i.e., bars 1 to 10 to and fro past the front needlebed then bars 3 to 12 to and fro past the back bed. It will be understood that the respective needlebeds rise and fall alternately to receive yarn guided by the yarn guide eyes carried by the guide bars, each bar having as many guide eyes as there are needles in a row, although various eyes may be left unthreaded.

The knitting method and knit product of this invention may be visualized readily by persons ordinarily skilled in the art through a specific example as provided in the following tables of chain readings for the yarn guide bars of a Raschel machine and the starting points therefor, together with the associated description. For the exemplified construction a total of twelve guide bars will suffice, as shown in FIG. 1 and indicated in the first table. The guide bar reference numerals are underlined or italicized to distinguish them from the lownumbered needle numerals.

TABLE I Guide Pattern Starting Point: Drum Bar No. Link Between Needles Right 1 4/2 2,3 Right 2 4/2 3,4 Right 3 2/0 1,2 Right 4 4/2 96,97 Left 5 2/4 48,49 Left 6 2/4 49,50 Left 7 2/2 48,49 Left 8 2/2 49,50 Right 9 2/2 12 Right l0 4/4 96,97 Right I l 4/4 2,3 Right l2 2/2 2,3

Note: Guide bars I, 2, II, and 12 are half-gauge threaded (1 in, 1 out), and each of bars 3 through 10 is threaded l in, out. All starting points are on front bed, i.e., front needlebar up.

FIG. 3 shows a preferred threading arrangement for use according to this invention. The guide bar numbers appear at the right and left edges, and bracketing indicates the aforementioned nesting of certain bars. Working on 1824 needles (numbered from right to left) with the indicated 96 needle setout provides 19 identical bands of fabric side by side. It will be apparent that use of different setouts or a different total number of needles working, i.e., with yarn furnished thereto (as indicated by the small dots or circles), can produce other desired numbers of bands. The description herein is limited to a single band.

A simple diamond construction is exemplified, which may be made with appropriate yarn of any suitable count, such as 2-ply 70s stretch nylon processed by a conventional false-twist method to provide appreciable stretch. The resulting construction is commonly called fishnet. The pattern chain readings for this example are presented in the following table, in which successive pairs of rows give the readings for the front (F) and back (B) beds, respectively. Guide bars 5, 6, 7, and 8 function for repeated runs through the 20 successive readings, corresponding to 10 courses, on either the A set of links, which provide the bifurcated pattern portion, or the B set of links, which provide the unitary pattern portion,switching over from one pattern portion to the other after a desired number of courses have been knitted, as set forth in more detail hereinafter.

TABLE li the chains on the left drum, there are two such chains identical in readings except at the last complete swing of the bars over both beds. Those dissimilar links in the respective chains represent the difference in con-struction between unitary or full-width fabric portions and bifurcated or half-width portions. As mentioned above, the respective bars are actuated in accordance with the A chain in making the bifurcated portion and in accordance with the B chain in making the unitary portion. Thus, Table II and the corresponding mechanism represent a single repeat of each of two different patterns. The shifting from one pattern to the other can be deferred until after any desired number of repetitions.

FIGS. 4 and are stitch diagrams for the panels of fabric formed on the front and back beds, respectively, each including also indication of the interconnection of the respective panels along the edges thereof and the conversion between bifurcated or half-width fabric (e.g., legs of pantyhose) to unitary or full width construction (e.g., panty of panty-hose). Bracketing and Right drum Left (double chain) drum Right drum Guide bar No 1 l 3 4 5A 58 GA 6B 7A 713 8A 813 J 10 11 12 Necdlobcd:

(l/O 0/0 2 4/4 2/2 4/4 4/4 2 A .2/4 .2/4 .2/4 .2/0 2 2 4/2 A conventional two needlebed Raschel machine can be used by appropriate modification of a pattern drum or wheel so as to provide essentially instantaneous pattern interchange as described hereinafter. The Kidde Fashion Master or Model DE machine has been provided with mechanism appropriate thereto, which has two pattern chain drums: one at each end of the machine, as indicated in the foregoing threading diagram and also described more fully hereinafter, being available from Cocker Machine and Foundry Co., Gastonia, NC. A double-chain arrangement for at least some of the guide bars is indicated by use of the description A and Bunder the identification of guide bars 5 to 8 in Table ll hereinabove.

ln visualization of the resulting fabric, or in graphical representation of it, as on point paper, it should be remembered that the readings for the, pattern links in the chains on the left and right drums are oppositely directed, as an increase in link number indicates guide bar displacement from the drum end of the machine. Alternate rows of readings are associated with the respective needlebeds, beginning at the top with the first course, on the front bed. A reading of 0 indicates the smallest or reference link-location of the guide bars, and readings of 2, 4, and 6 indicate displacement of the bar past one, two, and three needles, respectively. For each of the guide bars actuated by the links of broken lines indicate band separation at the right and left, and leg separation at the center. The courses are designated at the left in accordance with bed designation thereof in Table ll, and representative eyes of the respective guide bars are numbered accordingly along the bottom, before course 1F. The respective pattern for needle positions remote, from the separation loci are omitted in the interest of conciseness of the showing, and the needles in each band are shown numbered from 1 to 96 in the interest of clarity rather than being numbered consecutively throughout.

It will be apparent from Table II and FIGS. 4 and 5 that guide bars 1 and 2 knit a panel of fabric on the front bed while guide bars 11 and 12 knit a similar panel on the back bed. The pattern is in the form of a simple diamond having four stitches on each side and a stitch at each corner; it is constructed by making four stitches on a single needle followed by a stitch on the next needle alongside, bars 1 and 11 stitching at the right and bars 2 and 12 at the left. After that fifth stitch the bars return for four more stitches on the first needle and then move laterally to the other side (bars 1 and 1 l to the left, and 2 and 12 to the right) to form the tenth stitch before returning to the original wale. Along the extreme right edge of the band the single-threaded guides of connector guide bars 3 and 9 stitch principally on the first needle in the respective beds. When guide bar 1, which normally stitches on needle 2 in the front bed, shogs to the right at the fifth stitch (the tenth reading) to make a stitch on needle 1 in the front bed, bar 3 shogs to the left and stitches on needle 2; five stitches later, when bar 1 shogs to the left to stitch on needle 3 (and bar 2, which has been stitching on needle 3, shogs right to stitch on needle 2), bar 3 makes no stitch (nineteenth reading) on the front bed but then (twentieth reading) makes a stitch on needle 1 of the back bed. Guide bar 9, which has been functioning in the back bed as does bar 3 in the front bed, crosses over and makes a stitch on needle 1 of the front bed (19th reading) thereby interconnecting the front and rear panels of fabric at their respective right edges and maintaining the overall diamond pattern and skips (twentieth reading) that stitch on the back bed. The single-threaded guide of connector guide bar 4 normally stitches on needle 96 to form leftmost wale of the front panel, moving rightward at the fifth stitch to exchange with a guide of bar 2 and make one stitch on needle 95, and at the tenth stitch crosses over to make a stitch on needle 96 of the back bed while connector guide bar (which has been functioning in the back bed similarly to bar 4 in the front bed) crosses to the front and makes a stitch on needle 96 of the front bed.

During knitting of the bifurcated portions the respective panel edges defining the bifurcation also are knitted together in like manner as the extreme right and left edges are throughout. As indicated in reference to Table ll, an A set of links is provided for the bifurcated portions, and a B set of links for the unitary portion, to actuate guide bars 5, 6, 7, and 8. As shown in the centermost portions of FIGS. 4 and 5, during knitting of the bifurcated portion, guide bar 6 on the right edge of the left half-width panel acts similarly to bar 3 at the extreme right edge, i.e., the right edge of the right half-width panel; thus, bar 6 knits four stitches on needle 49 of the front bed, then shogs to the left and knits one stitch on needle 50 of the from bed (while bar 1 is shogging to the right and knitting on needle 49), then makes four more stitches on needle 49 of the front bed, and finally makes a connecting stitch on needle 49 of the back bed. Guide bar 8 at that right edge of the left half-width panel functions like bar 9 at the extreme right edge and complements bar 8, crossing over to make a stitch on needle 49 of the front bed when bar 6 crosses over likewise to the back bed. Also, during knitting of the bifurcated portions, guide bar 5 at the left edge of the right-most panel normally knits on needle 48 in the front bed as bar 4 does on needle 96 and complements the action of bar 7, which acts in the rear bed at this edge as bar 10 does at the extreme left edge, bars 5 and 7 swinging to make stitches on the respective opposite beds on the 10th stitch (19th and 20th readings, for the front and back beds, respectively).

When it is desired to convert from knitting the bifurcated portions to knitting the unitary portion, guide bars 5, 6, 7, and 8 are shifted from actuation by the A links to actuation by the B links, at any location in the camming actuation of the bars before the tenth stitch on either bed. At the tenth stitch, instead of crossing from one bed to another to make a stitch, each of those intermediate guide bars shogs sideways one needle opposite to the direction in which it shogged one needle at the fifth stitch and makes a stitch in the same bed,

thereby bridging what previously was the edge common to the respective bifurcated portions and preserving continuity of the unitary panel. The front and back panels are knitted together at their edges just as the extreme right and left edges of the bifurcated portions were, the result now being a seamless unitary tubular fabric. Thus, bar 6, which normally knits on needle 49 on the front bed, and which shogs to the left at the fifth stitch to knit on needle 50, shogs to the right at the tenth stitch to knit on needle 48 in the same (front) bed. This stitching is shown in broken lines in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The resulting tubular article (each band) after being taken off the machine is severed laterally at or near each midpoint between successive changeovers from bifurcated to unitary construction, to provide separate articles consisting individually of a single unitary or full-width tube joined end to end with a pair of halfwidth tubes. Each such article may be provided subsequently with an adhesive or sewn binding or edging at the top or waist end and at the bottom or cuff ends, after which it is suitable for use as a garment, often called panty-hose. Other'leotard-like garments may be constructed similarly.

The length of the respective portions will depend in large part, of course, upon the number of courses of each that were knitted before shifting the guide bars from links A to links B; it is not unusual for a panty (unitary) portion to require a thousand courses, and the leg portions four or five thousand courses (each). The width depends in large part upon the number of wales, and the indicated 96 needle setout is only exemplary. The number of yarns, yarn count, yarn composition, stitch construction and design may be varied from those used in the foregoing example as may be desired to vary the appearance of the resulting fabric and garment as to ornamental appearance, bulk, cover, elasticity, hand, wear-resistance, and other characteristics. For example, one or more added yarns may be laid in to render the panty or body portion more opaque than the hose or leg portion, and the stitch construction may be varied for the same purpose, as by analogous use of multiple pattern chains for the guide bars furnishing yarn to the fabric panels proper. I

As indicated above, the lateral shift between sets A and B of pattern links should occur at a reading other than the nineteenth and twentieth, preferably sufficiently in advance thereof to avoid any possible conflict. Physically, as is conventional, the pattern links are connected end to end in chain form, one chain for each guide bar being used; likewise here except that intermediate guide bars 5, 6, 7, and 8 have two chains each, one active and one inactive (though moving) at any given time. (Pattern wheels with fixed or adjustable profiles can be substituted for the chains.) In any event it is desirable that the lateral shifting to convert from use of one chain to the other for a given guide bar be accomplished during less time than it takes the chain to move one link, i.e., from one reading to the next (although for convenience double or twin links may be used, at least at certain locations).

As is conventional, each guide bar is biased, usually by a spring, toward the pattern drum (or wheel), and a push-rod interconnected to the end of the guide bar terminates in or attaches to a cam follower that rides on the chain links (or pattern wheel rim). Rotation of the drum or wheel earns the push-rods variously in accordance with link or rim profile and shogs the bars accordingly parallel to the needlebed(s). The shogging occurs only at dwells in the swing, i.e., when the guide bars are clear of the needles even though not completely at rest. The guide bars also are swung perpendicularly to and through the needle-bed(s) by separate camming action, which is entirely repetitive, unvarying except as the machine may be reset, when not operating, for a different bar swing. The interconnection of the push-rods to the guide bars incorporates suitable swivelling or sliding movement to accommodate the swinging movement with little or no effect on the shogging distance.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show in fragmentary elevation and plan, respectively, and more'or less diagrammatically, the interrelation of drum or wheel 11, which turns on axle l2 and carries pattern chains 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7A, 78, 8A, and 88, each of which is made up of links appropriate in height or thickness to the desired pattern of shogging movement of corresponding yarn guide bars 5, 6, 7, and 8. Roller earns 15, 16, 17, and 18, supported on one end of pusher bars 25, 26, 27, and 28, ride on the links in the respective chains (contact being shown with the B chain links). At their opposite end, after passing through pusher box 30 (indicated in broken lines), the pusher bars terminate in respective perpendicular plates 35, 36, 37, and 38, against which studs 55, 56, 57, and 58 extending from guide bars 5, 6, 7, and 8 bear. Each bar is mounted in bearings permitting longitudinal movement and is biased by a spring, such as extension spring 65 (attached thereto and to a fixed part of the machine frame) shown in FIG. 6, toward the pattern drum so as to force the studs against the stated plates and thus force the roller cams against the chain links, the relative positions of the guide bars being determined by the respective link sizes. Rotation of the drum brings successive links under the cams.

lnterchanging of the roller cams between the respective A and B pattern means is accomplished by providing relative movement parallel to axle 12. Drum 11 may be slid along the axle; the chains may be slid along the drum surface; or the cams may be slid sideways relative thereto, as by displacing the pusher box itself. In the aforementioned Kidde machine embodiment, the pusher box containing the push rods is shifted laterally .by pneumatic piston means, triggered in accordance with the indication of a stitch (course) counter. Such machine, its operation, and production of the product described herein are also described to some extent in an article (the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference) entitled New Cocker Fashion Master For Shaped Panty Hose, Leotards, Etc. appearing at page 42 et seq. in the 2 October I967 issue of KNITTED OUTERWEAR TIMES, a weekly published by National Knitted Outerwear Association, 51 Madison Ave., New York City. Of course, the desired shifting movement can be accomplished by mechanical camming or electrical solenoid instead of by pneumatic piston action, and can be timed in any suitable manner, either manually or automatically. Alternative means and methods for accomplishing this objective of converting from one shogging pattern to another Will be apparent to those skll ed in the art m the light of the teaching herein. It will also be apparent that the construction and use thereof are not limited to use with double needlebed Raschel machines but may be employed with any single or double flatbed machine, where useful therewith, such as in tricot machines, for example.

Although certain embodiments and a specific example of operation according to this invention have been described above, and some variations therein have been suggested, other modifications may be made therein, as by addition, combination, subdivision, or substitution of steps or parts while retaining some or all of the benefits and advantages of the invention, which itself is defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. In warp knitting of tubular fabric by knitting a pair of like panels of fabric opposite one another and simultaneously knitting the opposing edges of the opposed panels together to complete the tubular configuration, the improvement comprising alternately so knitting according to a first pattern to form a single relatively wide tubular portion wherein a given number of courses determine a minimum repeating pattern unit and so knitting according to a second pattern to form a plurality of relatively narrow side-by-side tubular portions wherein a given number of courses determine a minimum repeating pattern unit, including knitting successive relatively wide and relatively narrow tubular portions together end to end at the interchange between respective patterns, such interchange being accomplished essentially instantaneously with respect to the rate of course formation.

2. Warp knitting of tubular fabric according to claim 1, wherein the respective patterns of knitting are interchanged with one another at will after performance of any desired integral number of repetitions of the respective minimum repeating pattern units, thereby determining the respective lengths of the joined tubular portions.

3. Warp knitting of tubular fabric according to claim 2, wherein the interchange from formation of a single relatively wide tubular portion to formation of a plurality of side-by-side relatively narrow tubular portions is effected after so knitting twice the number of courses required to cover the trunk of a person of given size from the waist downward with such wide tubular portion, and the interchange from formation of a plurality of side-by-side relatively narrow fabric tubes to formation of a single relatively wide fabric tube is effected after so knitting twice the number of courses required to cover to desired degree the legs of such person with such narrow tubular portions.

4. Warp knitting according to claim 3, including the step of rendering at least part of the relatively wide trunk-covering tubular portion more opaque than the relatively narrow leg-covering tubular portions. 

1. In warp knitting of tubular fabric by knitting a pair of like panels of fabric opposite one another and simultaneously knitting the opposing edges of the opposed panels together to complete the tubular configuration, the improvement comprising alternately so knitting according to a first pattern to form a single relatively wide tubular portion wherein a given number of courses determine a minimum repeating pattern unit and so knitting according to a second pattern to form a plurality of relatively narrow side-byside tubular portions wherein a given number of courses determine a minimum repeating pattern unit, including knitting successive relatively wide and relatively narrow tubular portions together end to end at the interchange between respective patterns, such interchange being accomplished essentially instantaneously with respect to the rate of course formation.
 2. Warp knitting of tubular fabric according to claim 1, wherein the respective patterns of knitting are interchanged with one another at will after performance of any desired integral number of repetitions of the respective minimum repeating pattern units, thereby determining the respective lengths of the joined tubular portions.
 3. Warp knitting of tubular fabric according to claim 2, wherein the interchange from formation of a single relatively wide tubular portion to formation of a plurality of side-by-side relatively narrow tubular portions is effected after so knitting twice the number of courses required to cover the trunk of a person of given size from the waist downward with such wide tubular portion, and the interchange from formation of a plurality of side-by-side relatively narrow fabric tubes to formation of a single relatively wide fabric tube is effected after so knitting twice the number of courses required to cover to desired degree the legs of such person with such narrow tubular portions.
 4. Warp knitting according to claim 3, including the step of rendering at least part of the relatively wide trunk-covering tubular portion more opaque than the relatively narrow leg-covering tubular portions. 